Have you thought about your new year resolutions yet?
One of the most common resolutions tends to be ‘new year, new me’ in terms of diet and fitness. A lot of people find themselves waiting for the start of a new year, or new month, or new week to set goals and that is why, unfortunately, a lot of the time these goals are not kept.
How many times have you said to yourself: “I’ll start afresh next week.”
Here are some of our tried and tested tips for making new year resolutions and sticking to them:
Write down what you want to achieve from your goals
It helps to be specific about what you want to achieve. Rather than saying ‘I want to lose weight’, write down how much weight you want to lose. Or is it more about feeling better in your clothes? A good goal could be: “I want my jeans to be a more comfortable fit.”
Of course, it’s not all about losing weight. Some people might be struggling to put on weight and here, a goal could be – “I want to put on 1kg a month.”
Make your goals measurable
As with above, be specific. If you want to be able to run, how far do you want to run? Make it measurable. Do you want to complete a 5k, or a 10k or swim a certain number of lengths of the pool? Set a measurable goal.
Set out a plan
Write out a plan of how you are going to achieve your goals. If you need help, a personal trainer can advise you and help to set out a training plan
Attach your new habit to existing ones
A good tip is to work your new exercise programme into current habits. For example, before brushing your teeth in the morning perhaps complete 10 squats or while waiting for the morning kettle to boil you could do 10 wall presses or floor push ups.
Meal prep
Plan out what you are going to eat in the week and batch cook wherever possible. This way, when you’re short of time you will have home cooked meals ready in the freezer to save on cooking from scratch. Preparing your meals in advance also helps with the shopping list and prevents the temptation of buying convenience food that may have been mass produced.
Zoe